Learning the Ropes

Good afternoon!

It is a drizzly day here in BA. So after endless days of gorgeous blue skies and 80 degree temperatures, I am feeling enticed to stay indoors and finally update my blog. It has been one wild week and a half since I last wrote...

I have moved twice - once last Sunday to a smokey, but huge apt that I shared for 3 days with a lovely Argentinian girl (if only she did not smoke!) and, then, to my current temp residence with a friend from the states in her gorgeous (and also huge) apartment in one of the nicest neighborhoods in BA - and STILL am not in what will be my permanent abode.

I have started the arduous process of getting my student visa so that I may live here legally. This is something close to a 10-12 step process. I call it the "12 Steps to Student Visa Legality." I have visited the police station twice to prove that I do, in fact, live here. I had to sit around and wait for the police to come by my place of residence as you have to be there when they arrive. They were kind enough to give me a time frame of when exactly they may come - Wednesday or Thursday between the hours of 9am and 9pm. Great! That makes planning my day SO much easier. However, oddly enough, if YOU are not present, the doorman can sign for you declaring he knows you live there. Given I was in a temporary residence at the time, I had some explaining to do, but it all worked out when the police arrived Thurs around 5 pm and the kind doorman signed for me! Now I can prove I live somewhere in this city and am on my way to getting my student visa;)!

Next, I was off to the Ministry of Justice to get fingerprinted to - get this - prove I have no criminal record in the country. Now, it's true that I have been here for a few months before, so I agree that is plenty of time to have committed a crime. But the other Rotary scholars arrived within the last few weeks and, they too, must have criminal background checks. So I went, paid, waited in line, got fingerprinted, and now must return next Friday to get my results. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I did not commit any crime I am unaware of! Next step involves getting all of my documents - Birth Certificate, Diploma, Transcript, and Resume - translated into Spanish by a Certified Public Translator. All of this, dear readers, is a frustratingly expensive and time-consuming process. But such is the way things work here! And, I must admit, I kind of like the nuttiness of the process. (However, I may not be in such high-spirits come a few weeks from now when I have to wait in a 6 hour line to get the actual visa...)

In addition to dealing with my student visa, I have visited the university twice. Once to FINALLY get my acceptance letter - woohoo! Unfortunately, they gave me an unsigned copy, so now I must return tomorrow to get a signed copy for my Rotary papers. AND, I actually met with and was interviewed by the head of the Department of Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Therapy. What a relief to have finally encountered the right person with whom to speak and to know that I am on the right track. I must return tomorrow to have a 2nd interview, but am remaining confident that all will go smoothly. And THEN, my classes begin on Thursday. I am thrilled! OK, maybe more scared than thrilled as it will be my first day of class in nearly 5 years, and it's in Spanish, AND it's postgrad, AND... - yikes! But I am thrilled nevertheless;). I am looking forward to the challenge and to studying psychology here!!

I have also gotten lost far more than I wish to admit. Now, I tend to consider myself a person with a fairly good sense of direction. However, I am either wrong about my sense of direction OR people who do not have a good sense of direction are truly in trouble when they try to learn to get around this city. I have gotten on the wrong bus, walked around in circles asking where the right bus stop was, and - best of all - after finding the bus stop, I walked onto the bus only to discover I did not have proper change and had to get off, then BEG at three different places for two pesos in change. I was nearly in tears when this guy finally agreed to give me a bit of change. Change is worth its weight in gold here. People may very well shed blood over it. I do not kid. But, as I have yet to start classes, I have tried my best to remain patient with myself as I conclude that this is my job for now. Learning to get around. And what better way to learn (and never get lost again) than to get lost the first time around. It's fun, right? SO fun... No, really, it usually is. I am just glad I am always alone, so no one else witnesses me nearly losing my cool in the middle of a plaza full of a hundred people!

I have started meeting with a few cardiologists each week to help them with their English. It really involves simply talking as they are just wanting the opportunity to speak and improve. It's good for me because afterward, I get to practice my Spanish as well. And, Lord knows, I need all of the help I can get as I dive headlong into my Spanish classes!

And to give you a little blurb on my living situation. All is well, but there have been a few hiccups along the way. I will be moving into a gorgeous studio apartment this Friday and plan to stay there for a good long time. No more moving, no more living out of my bag.

That's what I have for now, folks. Stay in touch.

VIVA!

Cameron